Minister Ahern publishes Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010

The Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern, T.D. today announced that the Government has approved the publication of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010.

The Bill provides for amendments to provisions across the range of civil and regulatory law including:

• the Civil Legal Aid Act,
• the civil liability of good samaritans and volunteers,
• private security services,
• codes of practice for sale of alcohol,
• the Equality Acts,
• the law on bankruptcy and
• better enforcement of court orders in regard to maintenance and a number of other Acts.

Speaking on its publication, Minister Ahern said: "As in the case of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, this new Bill offers a good opportunity to provide for small but important changes to the law on a wide range of measures.

"One issue being addressed by the Bill is an amendment to the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976. This amendment will de-couple family law maintenance debt from civil debt in general. The proposed amendment to the law is based on the premise that a court has already deliberated in setting an appropriate level of maintenance and that if the debtor breaches that order without a significant change in his or her circumstances, that breach will constitute contempt of court and can be punished by imprisonment.

"Furthermore, the potential for civil liability remains a concern for some potential volunteers. In that respect, voluntary organisations expressed the view that legislation to clearly set out the scope and extent of the civil liability of good samaritans and volunteers would have the value of clarifying the law and I hope I have achieved that in this provision."

The Bill is available on the Oireachtas website www.oireachtas.ie